Burning Hearts

Kolberg's legendary status owes not a little to its unobtainability and complete absence from television. I have the distinct impression that the best of Veit Harlan's direction ended up on the cutting room floor as a panicking Dr Goebbels insisted on drastic revision before this thundering epic could be shown -should I say, inflicted on- the German public in the last days of WWII. There are some magnificent scenes of battles and the episode in the Kolberg town council chamber is brilliantly scripted and acted, but the something is very wrong about the way the final print was put together. Lead character Maria is a virtual stranger; the details of her trials and tribulations along with her affair with Schill have to be guessed at, as does much else. The sets throughout are splendid - but it's all a stage with nothing happening. Continuity is appalling. I understand that we are watching 1hr 45mins out of over 90 hours of footage taken and that all the negatives are lost. We will never know what we are missing.

To correct one thing the first critic said, KOLBERG was released on January 31, 1945. But it's release came to late to increase the morals of the Wehrmacht, because at the end of Janauary things went not so well for the German Army, because the Red Army reached the Oder, some 60 km near Berlin. Furthermore the powers of the Wehrmacht were nearly exhausted, due to the loss of arms and men. So it was clear to see for the most, that we would loose the war, unless the promised Wunderwaffen would not come to action. And that never happened. Nevertheless KOLBERG is an interesting experience. Alt last I'd like to point out HEINRICH GEORGE, who truly was one of our greatest Actors in Theatre and Film ever, in his role of the Bürgermeister of Kolberg. A stunning performance.

During the waning years of WWII, it was obvious to just about everyone that ultimately the Germans would lose the war. However, the Minister of Propaganda, Josef Goebbels insisted that a rousing German epic about war MUST be created in order to inspire their people in the defense of the nation. And so, while the country was being incinerated from the air and troops were being slaughtered by the 100s of 1000s on the Eastern Front, HUGE resources were rather inexplicably being diverted to the creation of "Kolberg". 10s of 1000s of soldiers were cast as extras and the great power of the sleeping German movie industry was mustered. And seeing that it was a full-color film with all this money being thrown into it, it's not surprising that this is a great film--though also one most would probably want to forget simply because of who made it and why it was created in the first place.

The film is set during the Napoleonic Wars--back around 1807. Town after Prussian town have surrendered to the oncoming French juggernaut. Yet, inexplicably, the town of Kolberg isn't ready to welcome the invaders. Despite a very weak commander of the Prussian army in the region, the Mayor isn't about to surrender and he's encouraging his people to fight to the death, as by slowing down the enemy, ultimate victory may result. But, he must contend with the wimpy commander and send a rather ordinary lady on a mission to have the King replace the commander and support the defense of the city. What follows are some exceptional battle scenes and the only ones which I have seen which are better are from the insanely large Russian version of "War and Peace" (a film you just have to see at least once in your life).

Overall, the film is very rousing and inspiring. It's obvious that the purpose of the film is to get the German people to be very willing to lay down their lives as well as convince them that this is not a sacrifice in vain (which is was). As a result, the film probably contributed to the unnecessary deaths of thousands of people--when there was no possible way to stop the inevitable. Plus, unlike the Prussians during the time of Napoleon, they were NOT fighting for what was right. Sad...but amazingly effective...provided the local movie houses had not been blown up so the folks could see it in the first place! By the way, the scene where the peasant girl meets the queen was exceptionally well done--even brilliant. See this and you'll understand what I mean.

There are some mistakes in the other reviews, which I would like to correct. "Kolberg" is by no means the last film of the Third Reich. The film production kept on going until April 23 in Berlin-Babelsberg, and as long as the early days of May in Prag, the last major colour film shot being "Shiva und die Galgenblume". Until that time there were about 90 films being either completed or shot in the Prag studios. If you want to find out the really "last" film, perhaps you should check out Käutner's absolutely beautiful "Under the Bridges", which didn't pass censorship in March 1945. But I'm not sure even that was the last completed film. Amazon.de sells about 6 different films on DVD which are marked as completed in 1945 (Frech und Verliebt, Monte Miracolo, Peter Voss - Millionendieb, Fledermaus etc.) Plus there are several, which were completed in 1945, but released only after the war.

Then, Kolberg hadn't fallen when this film premiered in Berlin and La Rochelle (which, perhaps inspired by the film, capitulated only two days after Germany had fallen). Kolberg was finally abandoned on March, 18.

There is a beautiful restored print sold by the International Historic Films. It has beautiful colours and a good soundtrack, plus some extras. This film can be watched - and indeed enjoyed - as a work of art, unless you absolutely want to read propaganda into it. Sure, it was made as an ultimate propaganda vehicle, but as a viewer I am permitted to distance myself from the politics and see this film as a cinematic near masterpiece. We know, that it was radically edited in January 1945, since Dr Goebbels found it to be too bloody, "nearly pacifistic". Every trace of human suffering (aside from the lame love intrigue) was removed, and that's probably what makes this film uneven and jumpy at times. What the director's cut could have looked like, we can only guess.

Politics and propaganda are as important today as they were back then. It's important to remember the atrocities of war and the crimes of Nazist regime. But a film starts living its own life since the moment it's completed, and we are stupid if we fail to recognize its merits merely because we know, that we are supposed to be blind to them.

Very few Nazi propoganda films achieved the effect for which they were intended and despite costing an estimated 8.5 million Reichmarks, this opus is no exception. Although conceived in 1942 it was not released until 1945 by which time its message that resistance is preferable to surrender was unlikely to appeal to citizens who had already paid a heavy price for their flirtation with National Socialism. Anyway, not many cinemas were still standing and the majority of film goers much preferred to watch 'Baron Munchhausen'.

That aside, 'Kolberg' is a marvellous piece of film-making. Beautifully shot in Agfacolor by Bruno Mondi with a powerful score by Norbert Schultze and intensely moving performances by some of Germany's finest.

The three leading characters of Gniesenau, Nettlebeck and Maria are basically symbols, respectively, of inspired military leadership, nationalist fervour and supreme sacrifice. Indeed, Gniesenaus' 'The people rise...the storm breaks' echos Goebbel's 'total war' speech from 1943.

Whatever one's feelings regarding demonised director Veit Harlan and the monstrous masters he served this film nonetheless remains an essential piece of cinematic history which no true cinephile can dismiss.